Rapid expansion in the ski industry and the facilities for skiing have created an increased demand for snow-making equipment. In addition, many skiing areas have experienced unfavorable weather conditions, greatly restricting the snow fall normally taking place in these areas with the result that there is a need for improved snow-making devices which can be operated more efficiently.
In the art, it is well-known to mix compressed air and pressurized water in a cold ambient atmosphere to produce a stream of snow particles as disclosed most recently, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,020, and also a number of earlier patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,408,005; 3,010,660; 3,298,612; 3,301,485; 3,464,625; 3,596,476; 1,596,577; and 552,345. In all of these techniques disclosed in the prior art, limiting factors are present restricting the quantity and quality of snow which can be made under optimum conditions, as well as the distance over which the snow may be spread in a practical manner over a ski slope area.
The costs involved in operating snow-making equipment is an important consideration especially as temperature is a controlling factor. As is well-known to those skilled in the art, in order to carry out a snow-making operation, it must be done in a cold ambient atmosphere at temperatures ranging from at least 28.degree. F. downwardly. It is also a clearly recognized fact that with presently existing methods of snow-making there can be utilized only a limited quantity of water for a given flow rate of compressed air, and as a consequence, the expense incurred in supplying compressed air and water is relatively high. Still another troublesome factor is that fluctuating wind velocities and rapid temperature changes can result in the production on the one hand of fine crystal snow which is subject to being blown away by wind forces, or on the other hand, the crystals may be of a nature such that a heavy wet snow of a less desirable character may be produced.